The figure in CAF’s annual UK Giving 2014 study was £200m less than the corresponding figure the previous year. But CAF says that the two figures cannot be compared because a new research methodology was adopted in 2013.

The amount given in 2013 was £10.8bn, a rise of £1bn compared with £9.8bn in 2012, but still below the high point of £11.6bn in 2010.

UK Giving says that about half of men (48 per cent) and more than a third (37 per cent) of women did not give to charity in a typical month or support them in others ways – for example, by volunteering.

Overall, 43 per cent of British people did not support good causes or get involved in social action in a typical month.

According to the study, younger people were less likely to be involved with supporting good causes, with nearly three-fifths (58 per cent) of those aged 16 to 24 not doing anything for charities in a typical month. Those aged 45 to 64 were the most likely to be involved, with 63 per cent having done something for a good cause in the previous month.

The research asked people what they had done for charity in the previous month and the past year.

The typical monthly amount given by a donor was £14 in 2014, only £1 less than the highest monthly amount recorded over 10 years. People gave an average of £10 through sponsorship in 2014.

Cash was found to remain the most common method of giving, being used by more than half of the donors surveyed (55 per cent).

Poorer people gave away a higher proportion of their income, according to UK Giving. Those earning less than £9,500 give away an estimated 4 per cent of their income last year; those earning more than £25,000 gave 1 per cent of it to good causes.

Medical research charities received the most support, with 33 per cent of donors giving to causes in this area, followed by causes relating to children and young people (30 per cent), and to hospitals and hospices (25 per cent).

Animal charities had a good year, attracting 21 per cent of donations, followed closely by overseas charities, which received 20 per cent of donations.

John Low, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said: "Charities clearly need to do more to motivate certain groups of society to get involved with charities in their communities, especially younger men. Fundraisers such as Movember and Tough Mudder have gone some way towards catching the imagination of this group over the last few years, but there is clearly still some way to go.

"Many people remain concerned that the money they donate will not be used to best effect, and charities must ensure they are properly communicating the achievements of their work to the people whose funding makes it possible."

The earlier version of the story did not say that the figures for 2014 could not be compared with those of the previous year.